It Never Fails
by Silvermokona
Summary: No matter how many times Neku see me, it never fails. He's always scared of me like I'm a god. But now, I think I'll show him what an actual god would do to him. Joshua/Neku, Was supposed to be a one-shot, but. . .yeah
1. It Never Fails

It never fails.

Every time, I visit the RG, he's some where near by. Every time he notices me, he starts to walk the other way quickly. Every time I call out his name, he turns and I can see a distinct look of horror on his face.

It happens every time.

This time, of course, it wasn't any different. It never is. Even as the Composer, the ruler of Shibuya, I couldn't do a thing to change it.

As he stares at me in fear, I walk up to him, stopping right in front of him and smirking.

"Hello again Neku."

He twitches a little, clearly unhappy to see me, like he always is.

"What are you doing here?" He asks coldly, and I cocked my head to the side a little, my eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Is it a problem for me to come here and visit once in a while?"

He hesitates, like he's afraid I'll do something to him if he says something wrong. The fear in his eyes is growing larger, and I can't help but smile. Sure, being Composer gave me power, but to have my dear little proxy afraid of me just made me feel a little more powerful.

". . .No." He finally answers.

"Are you doing anything today, or are you just wandering the streets randomly?" I asked, curious. He seemed to hesitate again.

"I was going to Mr. H's café."

"What a coincidence, I was just going there myself." I giggle, and I can tell Neku gets mad for a moment, but it fades quickly as I step closer to him, "Why don't we go together?"

He's hesitating again, and it's starting to get a little annoying now. It's like he doesn't see me as a human being, which, I'm technically not, but I'm close to one in the RG. I barely have any powers in the RG, so it's as close as human as one in my predicament can get.

"Sure." He finally says. I was starting to get tired of waiting, and I'm sure Neku wouldn't want to see me when I get impatient. We start to walk, side by side. Not like he used to back in the Game, he was always walking in front of me then, even if I was leading the way. I guess it was so I couldn't see his disgust he had for me, but I could clearly sense it.

As we walk, I can see he's starting to get ahead of me. Just like the old times, so I can't help but smirk again. I let out a soft giggle, and Neku turns and looks at me. He's still afraid, but he's masking it. Of course, he never was good at masking his emotions, so I can still read him like an open book.

"What?" He asks, and I can't but giggle again.

"You're walking in front of me again, just like you always did when we were partners." I point out, smirking. He scowls, and continues walking, and I follow him.

I can tell he's mentally plotting to ditch me, I can read him like an open book. But I also know he won't, he's too scared to me to even try.

We reach WildKat, the little deserted café that Mr. H tends to ever so faithfully, like it's the only thing he has besides me. It probably is, being my dear Producer and only being able to talk to me openly and no one else. It wasn't me who restricted him, it was just how the rules went, and sometimes rules were never meant to be broken..

"Hey there Boss." Mr. H flashes one of his world famous grins at us as we walk in. Neku's still scowling a little, but he seems to be in a better mood with Mr. H around. Of course, I wasn't surprised, Neku had told him that he looked up to CAT all of his life.

"Hello." I smirk, but Neku stays silent as we both sit down on the chairs he has set up in front of the counter.

"The usual?" He asks, and I nod, so he turns to Neku, "How about you?"

"Nothing, thanks." He shakes his head. I watch at Mr. H as he starts fiddling behind the counter, but he stops when he checks the fridge.

"That's odd, I thought I had more milk." He sighs, closing the refrigerator, then turning back to us, "I need to make a quick errand, so can you two cafesit for me?" He asks.

"Of course, right Neku?" I turn to Neku, and his head lowers.

"Sure." He says softly. I watch him leave, and I'm starting to get annoyed. Neku, he couldn't just act normally around him. Megumi, it was okay, because I knew he would never betray me. But Neku, I couldn't really control him. I _could_ kill him again so he'd be in the premises of my little game again, but good would that do, really?

"What's wrong Neku?" I asked finally, and he looks at me in confusion. I had a feeling he would; did he think I would think that's how he always acted?

"Nothing." He says quickly.

"Neku Neku Neku Neku." I shake my head disapprovingly, "You should know by now that that isn't going to fool me." I lean closer, "Really, did you think I hadn't noticed ever since the game. You're afraid of me Neku, just because I'm the Composer."

"No I'm not." He hisses, but I can see right through his act. I get up from the chair and lean close to his face, smirking. He's shaking now, and it's kind of cute. Then again, I couldn't expect any less from my dear Proxy.

"Then explain to me why you're shaking." I say, showing Neku that I clearly wasn't going to hold back, not now. I lean in closer, our faces only millimeters apart, and I can hear Neku's unsteady breathing: another sign he's scared. He's almost like a children's book now, so easy to read.

"I thought so." I smirk "I guess if you want to treat me like I'm and all powerful god, I guess I should treat you like most all powerful gods do to their underlings." Our lips meet, a forceful one on my part. As soon as Neku gets the chance to break it, he does, cursing under his breathe

"Joshua? What the hell? What if someone **saw** us?" He's steaming mad. I always thought he was cute when he was this mad.

"I guess your right, it wouldn't be fun if someone saw us." I say, pretending to miss Neku's point completely. I grab his wrist roughly and drag him to the back of the café. He fights with all he's got against my grip, but I knew the wrist was always the weakest part of the human body, and it was no exception for poor little Neku.

I threw him onto the bed that lay at the back of the café, since Mr. H spent the night at the café sometimes. Before he can react, I'm on top of him, and I can tell I'm smiling ear to ear with that little sadistic smile that Neku had learned to fear from the last day of little three week game.

Before he can protest, or yell for help, my tongue is inside his mouth, exploring. I can easily tell he's trying not to enjoy it. As we kiss, it's almost as if his tongue is battling mine for space, but I enjoy it. It's never fun to tease the willing, I know from experience.

I stop kissing him for a second, only to examine his face He's beet red now, and I can't help but giggle at it. He's cute when he's blushing too.

I start kissing him again, forcing my mouth on to him, because I know he isn't going to take it willingly either way. I let my hand. . .wander a little under his shirt, and I can feel him shiver as my cold hand touches his warm body. He's really warm, and it feels nice. My attention gets drawn away as my hand goes down until I can feel a certain body part of his. Because I'm so preoccupied, I stop the kiss, too focused, but I can see out of the corner of my eye that Neku is really scared.

"Joshua, what are you-" He tries to ask, but interrupted by his own surprise when I squeeze. I let my face rest next to his, puffing bouts of hot air into his ear as I start stroking up and down, searching for the moan. That moan that gives it away that he's enjoying it, even though he's trying not to.

"Joshua. . .you bastard." He says in between clenched teeth as I stroke harder. All I can do is smirk, and wait. I know it's going to come soon, his breathing is short and ragged, and the heat radiating from his body was only getting stronger. I lick his ear, making him shiver and letting out a stifled moan unguarded from his shivering. He curses himself under his breathe.

"You can't hide it from me Neku, you love it." I whisper into his ear, an evil twist in my voice, but he only responds with an annoyed huff of air. Poor Neku couldn't hide anything from me, he was just so easy to read, and it was completely evident that Neku was enjoying it but trying to keep it a secret from me.

"Joshua." He says softly as I continue to stroke even harder now.

"Say it for me again Neku, it sounds so cute when you say it." I say to him sweetly.

"Jo. . .shu. . . a." He says it again, and I lick his cheek, showing him that I approve. I give him one final squeeze, making him moan loudly, before I get up, both of us out of breathe. Once I can tell Neku's head had cleared enough to think clearly, he dashes out of the room like a stampede of noise was after him. It never fails, he always runs away from what he can't understand.

But. . .it never fails. He's just so cute when he's angry.


	2. A Goodbye?

He's right there again, I can't help but giggle. I think it might have been fate that brought us together, or just some cruel force on Neku's part. Poor boy is probably scared for life after our little play time in the cafe.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to happen this time. He's at the Statue of Hachiko, with Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme. He's always hanging out with those three now, almost always. Sometimes, it gets a little annoying.

Of course, Neku spots me, and instantly looks away. He's still scared of me, but he won't dare mention anything that happened in the cafe, he's with his friends. But, I can't help but want to have a little fun…

I walk up to them, and now all of them notice me. They all fall silent. Even with only slight experience or no experience at all with my powers, they're all scared of me; every last one of them.

"What a coincidence" I giggle again "It seems we keep running into each other no matter where I go, right Neku?"

"Go away Joshua" Neku growls, and I can't help but giggle again. He's acting tough in front of his friends, it's so cute

"Now Now, Neku. That isn't a very nice thing to say" I smirked, folding my arms.

"We don't have anything to do with you anymore, yo" Beat glared at me.

"Just please go away" Shiki looked at me with contempt as well.

"Wow, you got the whole gang in on your club, eh Neku?" I smiled "Well, looks like I'll have to go on my merry way, if all of you insist on me leaving. Well, except for Skulls Jr. over. . ."

"Keep her out of this" It was actually kind of funny how closely Beat protected Rhyme, like he was her dad or something. It just made me giggle again. All of them, banning together to keep me away, it was so cute.

I giggled once more, and walked away, but soon felt something tug at my sleeve. I looked down to see little Rhyme looking up at me, a look of innocence on her face. It reminded me that she didn't have the bias that the rest of the group had had, she hadn't seen me in action.

"Stay" She said simply, and I blinked. I was surprised, and apparently so was the rest of the group, especially Beat.

"Rhyme, don't. . ." He started.

"Why?" Rhyme turned to them and asked, but it looked like all of them were afraid to say no to the poor girl, which I guess gave the upper hand to me.

"Well, if you say so…" I smiled to her, patting her on the head and turning back to the group of shocked people "Well, where were you planning on going?"

"To. . .Ramen Don" Shiki says hesitantly, obviously trying to fill in for Neku, whose cheeks are turning a slight shade of pink, probably thinking about the going-ons of a couple days ago.

"Well, why don't we go then" I smirk, and all of them walk fast, ahead of me. As Neku pasts, I whisper "Don't worry, I won't tell them anything about our little adventures a couple days ago."

Neku just glared at me, but I knew he would probably be grateful. I'm sure he wouldn't want his little group of friends to learn that he was completely powerless against me.

Another surprising thing, Rhyme keeps looking back at me, even though Beat seems to be scolding her every time she does. She's like a curious child, wondering why her parents wouldn't let her look at a person just because they had a grudge against them. Oh, right, that's almost exactly what's happening right now, except none of them were Rhyme's parents.

We enter Ramen Don, and Rhyme almost instantly sits next to me after I sit down, much to the rest of the group's discontent. They're all really discomfortable, only making small talk and comments here and there as they eat their ramen. Except Rhyme, she asks me a lot of things, like what it was like ruling Shibuya, or being immortal. She really is a curious one, and she's pure, I can sense it. If actually liked little kids, I would think she was cute.

Once we're out, I can tell all of them are ready to snap at some point. Their negative vibe is almost getting to me, but I try to ignore it. Rhyme's next to me now, and she doesn't seem to mind at all, doesn't know the extent of the negative thoughts what her friends and brother have for me.

Neku suddenly stops, and all of us stop with him. Before any of his friends or me can even ask what's wrong, his fist is flying towards me. I smirked and sidestep, letting his bare fist hit the brick wall behind me. He's probably going to have a sore knuckle for a couple days now.

"Wow Neku, finally snapped? I was wondering how long it would take you" I giggle, and Neku's clearly mad.

"Why the hell do you keep showing up where ever I am. You've already ruined my life by bringing me into the Reaper's Game when you killed me, are you going to kill me again now just so you can use me as your game piece again" He shouted.

"I have no use for you in the UG anymore" I stated flatly, but that didn't seem to be enough.

"Then why do you keep appearing wherever I am" He growled.

"I-" I tried to start.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" He cut me off.

"Neku-"

"And keep my friends out of this too, especially-"

"NEKU!" I interrupted him, and they all fell silent. I wasn't one to shout, but his griping was starting to get on my nerves.

"Listen to me. I don't intentionally appear wherever the hell you are, it's always been coincidence that you're right there whenever I visit the UG. And the game wasn't torture, it clearly helped you. If it wasn't for the game, you wouldn't have met them" I jabbed my finger in the direction of his group of friends "You would have forever shut other people out and never expanded your horizons. And I was kind enough to bring you back, wasn't I? I could have easily just erased all of you with my little finger and been over with it, but I **didn't**!"

"You almost erased Shibuya" Neku hissed.

"But he didn't, right?" We all turned to Rhyme who had butted into our argument so suddenly.

"He didn't erase Shibuya, so you don't have anything to be mad at him about. It's no use hammering a bent nail" She had surely shocked everyone with her sudden but in, leaving everyone speechless but me, I only sighed.

"Oh, no need to support me Rhyme, he's right" I shook my head "If he wants to be left alone, I'll leave him alone. You'll never have to look at my eyes again, if that's what you really wish. I guess it's only fair after what I put you through" I walked away from the little group and slowly tuned myself back into the UG, and slowly making my way back to the Room of Reckoning, my throne, feeling like there was a heavy rock in my stomach.


	3. Leansies

It had been a week, and I hadn't taken him seriously. He said I'd never have to see him again, that he'd leave me alone. I hadn't believed him, of course, but now. . .maybe he was telling the truth. I didn't know, I was confused, and it was all because of him.

It all started when we had café-sat for Mr. H, and he had pretty much molested me. He had bluntly implied that he was annoyed at me being afraid of me, which. . .I kinda was. He was the Composer of Shibuya, and he had the ability to send me back to the UG if he ever so wished. But. . .I was confused. I had never known Joshua even leaned that way, and I never, ever would have guessed.

Then when he had joined us for ramen, I was actually quite surprised that Rhyme had stood up for the bastard, and I think he was too, but I don't think he minded too much. Beat really hated that day, he had about as much hatred as I had had for Joshua, and he wasn't stuck with him for a week. He was also kind of over protective of his sister as well, mostly because of the events in the game. Those two mixing was never a good thing. Hell, I was surprised he hadn't snapped first.

After the events of that day, I was half expecting to see pop out of nowhere again, finding a loophole around his promise. But. . .he didn't. And I was starting to doubt he was actually kidding. Thinking of Joshua, it reminded him of that one day. It was only a couple weeks after the game had ended, and I had started going out with Shiki, but it wasn't going that great. He had randomly appeared out of nowhere once again, that usual smirk on his face.

"What's wrong, dear partner?" He had asked, and I had just scowled.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to know what's wrong with my dear proxy" He smiled, but it still made me want to strangle him ever more…

"I thought Shiki was my most precious thing, that we belonged together, but. . .I think I was mistaken."

"You know, Neku" His tone became surprisingly serious as he sat down next to me on the bench I was sitting on "While I'm gone, it's impossible to reincarnate people. Kitaniji might have just used her as your entry fee so that it would have looked like I was still there."

And then he left, simple as that. I had taken his words into consideration and broke up with Shiki; we both agreed we would be better off as friends.

Now. . .I hate to admit it, I really, really, really, really hated to admit it, but. . .I missed him. His giggling, he's slender pale body, those silver locks of hair, and. . .those eyes. The violet eyes that really set him apart, and were. . .captivating in a way.

He knew if Joshua was here right now, he would have giggled like crazy and make fun of him. Hell, he made fun of him for everything, but those few moments where he was serious, or even those few moments where he was just with him, he looked back at them and found he had really enjoyed him. He wanted him back, he wanted him back more than anything in the world.

Oh god, was Joshua imprinting this stuff into him?

"You wish I was, weren't you?"

I turned to see Joshua standing there, pure violet eyes staring straight back into mine.

"Joshua. . ." I could only manage to say as he walked closer to me, that same god-damned smirk on his face.

"Surprised?" He started playing with a lock of hair with his fingers.

"But. . .you said that I wouldn't have to see you again. . ."

"Well, I couldn't leave my dear proxy all broken-hearted like that" He giggled, stepping even closer to me. Our faces were only maybe an inch apart, and his breath was cold. "Neku, I'm about to tell you something. Something I thought in my life of eternity that I'd never tell you, or anyone for that matter."

"W-what?" I said, stammering.

"You' really have to stop acting like the whole world is crashing on to you" He said suddenly, his tone serious "You can't just go around expecting me to be sympathetic of you. Every time I see you, you push me away as if I never did anything for you. It was my game that had changed you over all, gave you friends, a fresh start, and you keep treating me like I'm completely emotionless."

Joshua then moved his face forward, kissing me again. It wasn't forceful like last time, but. . .pleasing. Oh god, did I really lean that way too? His soft lips against mine, his hair tickling my skin, I couldn't help but just crave more.

As soon as it had started, it had stopped, and Joshua had a look of longing on his face.

"You know. . .if you still really want me gone, you can still take up that offer" He said softly.

"NO."

"Hm?" He looked surprised.

"Do I really need to spell it out for you?" I sighed.

"Maybe you do, I don't think I quite get it" He giggled. I knew he was lying, but I also knew what he wanted, and I couldn't help but give it to him. I lead him to a nearby alleyway, and I kissed him.

Joshua broke the kiss for a little bit, only to whisper "Oh dear Neku, what if someone saw us?" He said, obviously mocking me.

"My parents aren't home."

"Eh, I think I know a better place. How about the back-room of the café?"

"You sure Mr. H won't mind?"

"I **am** the Composer of Shibuya."


	4. Clothing

"Mr. H, I need the bed now. As in, right now. I'm not waiting until closing hours." Joshua glared at Mr. H from the other side of the counter.

"Having two 'under-aged boys' making out in my back room won't be good for business." Mr. H sighed.

"I don't care, I need to use it **now.**" Joshua slammed his fist on the table. He almost looked like a four year old throwing a temper tantrum from my perspective.

"Joshua, why do you have to always use my bed?" Mr. H sighed again.

"Because you have one in your apartment, now let me use it."

"Joshua, do I have to go over this again?" Mr. H rubbed his hand against his forehead.

"No." Joshua turned, and the door that lead outside swung shut, and a clicking sound could be heard. He turned back to Mr. H, with a smirk on his face now, "Problem solved. Can we use the bed now?"

"You don't really need my consent. Just. . .unlock the door."

Joshua giggled and another click was heard, then he grabbed my wrist and led me to the back room. It wasn't like last time when he was dragging me, but more like leading me like I was some kind of dog or something. We stopped by the bed again, the same bed we used a couple days ago. It looked fresh, and I smiled a little. Mr. H must have cleaned it 20 times or more after we had used it.

"Work for you?" Joshua eyed me.

"What do you think?" I smiled again at him. Joshua was then in front of me, his tongue purged deeply into my mouth. He's walking slowly back into the bed, and I follow him. Once we reached the bed, we pretty much fall onto it, but the kiss doesn't break. He's kicking off his shoes now, so I do the same. It would be rude to have shoes on the bed, and I know Joshua knows that.

Now his hand is trailing up my neck, then down again. It sends shivers down my spine as he does it. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. After the third time, he goes down a little farther, but my shirt gets in the way.

He breaks the kiss, but our faces are still centimeters apart, "Nekky-kun, could you do me a favor and remove that annoying article of clothing? It's getting in my way." He had a pouting look on his face, and it almost makes me laugh. I remove it as quickly as I can, throwing it in a random direction. I really don't care where it landed, and I don't care to look as we start kissing again. His cold hand goes all the way down my back, sending more chills down my spine, and then he's up at my neck again.

But, then he's stopped again. He's slowly crawling backwards, as if he's stopping so soon. He can't stop so soon! He can't just leave me here!

Then, I calm down a little, seeing what he's doing, and also quickly kick off my shorts and boxers, since I know they're going to get in the way. He starts sucking it, and hard. I have to crumple the sheets in my fist to keep from letting out a scream.

"Joshua. . ." I say softly, and he stops, looking up at me.

"Do you. . .want me to stop?" he asks, his voice is not like it usual is, it's sweet and caring like the Joshua I had never heard before.

"No, no. Keep going." I assure him, and he does, but then he stops again.

"Joshua. . .what's wrong?" I asked, and his eyebrows furrow a little.

"I don't think it's quite fair that I'm fully clothed and you're naked." he frowns, and starts unbuttoning his shirt, but fumbles with the first button.

"Here, let me do it." I scoot closer to him. I can see he's about to protest, but then let's me. As I undo each button, I can see more of his pale chest, and it makes me even more impatient to just feel it, stroke it so I could call it mine.

"Your ready to just pounce on me, aren't you?" Joshua says, smirking. It's almost like he's reading my mind. Usually, I would just want to punch him right now, but I'm too captivated by his violet eyes and his pale chest that I don't care right now.

I get a little stuck on the last button, but I finally get it off, and he hurries to take off his shirt and then his pants and boxers. I have to keep my eyes mostly off him or else I'll just stare at him and his slim body, and then Joshua would probably get mad.

"You're just so cute when you're looking at my body." Joshua commented again, but I said nothing. Instead, I let my face draw closer to his chest, licking it, wanting to make it mine even though it wasn't. It was his. **I** was his, and there was nothing I could do about it. I hated the helpless feeling, but at the same time, I loved it.

My face slowly trails up his chest, back up to his face, where we start kissing again. I don't bother fighting his tongue as it enters my mouth, though he probably would have loved it better I had.

Our lips part again, slowly, and I stare at him. But, then, something catches my eye past him, and my eyes widen.

"Nekky-kun, what's wrong?" Joshua asks. After a few seconds of no reply, he turns around to where I'm looking as well, and I know he understands my fear.

All of them are standing there, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme, had seen us naked on the bed.

I knew we'd have a lot of explaining to do, and it wouldn't be easy.


	5. It Would Never Fail

I couldn't help it. It was just so funny. We were minding our own business, and then they showed up, Neku's entire gang. It was funny how life just tended to go bite someone in the rear once they were somewhat happy. It was just so funny, I giggled. Neku, surprisingly, said nothing to me, but instead, talked to his friends.

"Can you. . .give us a few minutes?"

"Yeah. . .sure." Shiki said, his friends apparently all too flustered and shocked to say anything. It was almost kind of funny, but then again, walking into Neku and I having sex is probably like someone walking into Mr. H and Sho having sex.

Great, now that image was burned into my mind.

After they left, I got up, searching the room for where I happened to throw my boxers, and Neku flopped onto the bed.

"'Let's go have sex in Mr. H's café again!' I said. 'What could possibly go wrong?'," Neku grabbed the nearest pillow and screamed into it.

"Oh, be quiet," I sighed, "You're starting to act like a girl, and I'm not very fond of girls."

"Maybe that's not entirely a bad thing," Neku removed the pillow from his face, only to have a pair of boxers land on it.

"Nice CAT boxers. Obsessed much?" I giggled, finally finding my own boxers and slipping them on.

"Shut up. At least you always knew who CAT was," Neku removed the boxers from his face.

"So," I turned to him once I finally had my boxers on, "What are you going to tell your friends?"

Neku stared at the ceiling blankly. "Good question."

"I could always speak for you, and you know, tell them about our wonderful adventures toge-" I stopped short to dodge the pillow that Neku had thrown at me, then gave him a smirk. "I'll take that for a no then."

"Good," Neku frowned, grabbing his shorts.

"Whatever you say, partner," I shrugged, buttoning my jeans and putting an arm through the sleeve on my shirt. Before I could get the other in though, Neku's hands wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me closer to him.

"To be honest with you Joshua. . .I'm scared," he sighed, digging his face into my back.

"And why would that be?" I asked.

"They. . .They've been the first friends I've ever had. The first I've been able to keep for more than just a couple days. I'm scared I'm gonna lose them, Josh," I could feel him shake his head against my back.

I giggled, and then he raised his head again and looked into his confused face.

"What?"

"That's the first time you've called my Josh."

He raised an eyebrow and reminded me to focus on the matter at hand.

"Sure, sure, whatever," I let my head rest on his shoulder-bone, looking up at his face, "You know. If you're really that worried about them losing them, you can always dump me... right here, right now."

Neku paused, then looked down at me, "You really hate me that much?"

"No, I really **like** you that much," I corrected, pecking him on the cheek.

Neku remained silent for a while, so I decided to break it. I never did like silence anyways.

"You also need a tic-tac."

"You need a tan and some weight."

I giggled. "I guess we're even then. Come on, let me get my shirt on. I'm sure you don't want to keep your friends waiting."

"I guess," Neku sighed.

"Or did you just want more snuggle time," I winked, and he gave a small smile.

"After we talk to them, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. . .whatever," I sighed as he let go of me to fetch his own shirt as I got my shirt fully on, starting to button it up.

"You ready?" Neku asked as I was getting the last button in.

"Ready when you are," I smiled at him. Neku took a deep breath, and we both walked out to the front. The trio was still waiting there, and almost a little surprised that we finally came out. Shiki and Rhyme were both sitting at the barstools in front of the counter, with Beat standing behind them. We walked over behind the counter and stood there, an awkward silence was floating over both parties.

"So. . ." Rhyme said softly, in a timid attempt to break the silence, "How long has this been going on?"

I smiled, "Depending on-" before I could finish, Neku elbowed me in the ribs and continued for me.

"A couple hours."

"No way." Shiki gasped.

"A couple hours and you guys are already banging up each other like you're in a porno?" Beat asked.

"How would you know that?" Shiki turned to Beat.

"Uhhh. . .no reason, yo. . ." Beat looked away.

Rhyme giggled, and Shiki turned back to Neku.

"Are you positive this is what you want? I mean. . ." she trailed off.

"If it wasn't what I wanted, I would have kicked him in the crotch and left a _long_ time ago," Neku sighed, and I giggled.

"Sooo. . ." I sighed as well, my gaze switching from all three of his friends, "I guess the big question here is, are you guys okay with it?"

A stunned silence took over, and Shiki and Beat exchanged glances, but finally, Rhyme spoke up again.

"I don't mind if Neku doesn't mind," Rhyme gave a bright smile.

"I guess. . .if Rhyme's okay with it," Beat scratched the back of his head, trying his hardest not to make eye contact with any living thing in the room.

"Sure. . ." Shiki looked down, as if the ground suddenly became very interesting.

"So, are you still coming with us for ramen down at Ramen Don today?" Rhyme asked eagerly.

"Oh, right," Neku blinked, then turned to me, "I hope you. . .don't mind me going for a bit."

I smiled, "Go right ahead, I'm not a slave-driver or anything."

Neku gave me a smile. Not forced or anything, but just a plain simple smile, and I could feel my cheek starting to heat up. I guess he was really cute when he was happy. Soon, his friends were out the door, and he was almost, until he poked his head back in to look at me.

"Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"Try to reserve our spot" he winked, then ran off with the rest of the group. I couldn't help but stand there, smiling. Even though it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I had still lost the war. His friends would always be on a higher pedestal than me, and there was nothing I could do about it. Then again, what more could I expect from Neku? He had friends, and he wasn't going to give them up for the world, and I knew that.

It would never fail.


End file.
